A Delta Airbus A320 airplane takes off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, as smoke from wildfires in Canada blankets the realm.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Smoke from Canada wildfires disrupted flights within the Eastern U.S. again Thursday after tons of were delayed a day earlier as a result of decreased visibility, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
“The FAA will likely must take steps to administer the flow of traffic safely into Latest York City, [Washington] DC, Philadelphia and Charlotte [North Carolina] as a result of reduced visibility from wildfire smoke,” the agency said.
The FAA briefly halted inbound traffic to Philadelphia International Airport earlier Thursday.
A whole lot of flights to and from LaGuardia Airport in Latest York and nearby Newark Liberty International Airport were delayed Wednesday as a result of the heavy smoke. The FAA had briefly paused traffic altogether into LaGuardia in the course of the day.
By Thursday evening, greater than 4,200 flights to, from and throughout the the U.S. were delayed, in line with flight tracker FlightAware.
Greater than 280 LaGuardia-bound flights, almost half of the day’s schedule were delayed as of 6:40 p.m. ET Thursday, while one other 161 departures were delayed, FlightAware’s tally showed.
At Newark, 129 departures were delayed, or 19% of the schedule, and 143 flights headed for the Latest Jersey airport were delayed, around a fifth of the entire.
American Airlines and United Airlines said they were waiving change fees and fare differences for travelers affected by the air quality issues within the region in the event that they can fly before next Wednesday.
